Here we are again! How time flies, it doesn’t seem two minutes ago since Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time in Rio.

It is great to see so many people sign up to this years World cup forecast. In total we have eighty one people signed up! The good news is that the prize fund is £200 and we have also raised the same amount for Alzheimer’s Research UK! Thank you all who have taken part.

This year there will be three prizes as follows:-

1st Place £150.00

2nd Place £30.00

3rd Place £20.00

For those of you who are new to the forecast I will explain how it works. From the form you filled in it states how the scoring works and without boring you too much I will go over the stage scoring first. In each game the teams receive 3 points for a win, 2 points for a score draw, 1 point for a no score draw. There are also deductions of 3 points for each player that gets a red card. I will explain the rest of the scoring as we go through the competition.

I will be sending updates and the current league table every couple of days so you can see how you are doing.

The Stats

This year the favourites for the competition have been chosen fairly equally with Germany slightly more popular. It is good to see that a lot of faith has been put behind England as they have had the most selections. The other most popular team was Costa Rica! The two least favourite teams were Iran and Croatia.

Yesterdays Game

After the opening ceremony we saw the hosts Russia take on Saudi Arabia. What an opening game! Russia put five past Saudi Arabia to record the biggest win by the host nation in the opening game of a world cup since 1934.

Todays Games

Today we see 3 matches. First up in group A Egypt take on Uruguay where we have two stars on display Mo Salah and Luis Suarez, this promises to be a high scoring game!

Then we see Morocco and Iran battle it out in the tough Group B The loser of this one will struggle to progress.

Finally the game of the Stages Portugal against Spain. Can Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal capitalise on the disarray of Spain and the recent sacking of their manager.